Ankara Tour Part I: Atatürk’s Legacy

This past Tuesday (September 18), the Orientation group did a day trip to some of the major sight-seeing locations of Ankara. The first stop was Atatürk’s mausoleum, right in the heart of the city.

Before I show you pictures, I want you to tell me what you know about Turkey and Atatürk. Oh my! Let’s not have everybody raise their hands at once! Okay, how about you?

Atatürk’s name means ‘father of the Turks.’

Indeed, and why is that?

Because he founded the Turkish Republic as it is today after several years of hardship as the Turks sought sovereignty and independence after the Ottoman Empire was dissolved at the end of World War I.

Wow, what knowledge! And what do you know?

He reformed the Turkish language by switching to the Roman script from Arabic script.

Çok güzel (very good/nice)! And one more fact….

Atatürk is worshiped by Turkish people and his monument is a testament of their devotion.

Woah, woah, woah–let’s pause for a minute.

“Worship” is a very strong word–and to think that Turkish citizens “worship” the memory of one person assumes too much. Turkey is secular; the city of Ankara is a prime example of this as well as the university culture I’ve been exposed to. If someone adheres to a faith, it is usually Islam and this is a monotheistic religion–there is no room in the theology to worship another entity other than God/Allah. For both religious and non-religious people, Atatürk was a progressive leader who symbolized a new era for Turkey, an era that left the Ottoman period in the past as it strove for modernization.

In my (very humble) opinion, Atatürk’s mausoleum is not representative of a cult or a religion. The Turks chose to highlight his time on earth and be thankful for his deeds in a way that ties the past and present together. To clarify; the engineers, architects, historians, citizens, politicians, etc. who were involved in the construction project brought aspects and themes from the deep Anatolian past and applied them to Atatürk in the present. So, to me, Atatürk’s mausoleum represents more than just a display of the deeds and influences of one person; it represents a catalyst for Turks to explore their deeper past and apply aspects of that past onto a modern leader. This is pretty epic! And unlike someone like Stalin, Atatürk didn’t kill millions of his own people in the name of “progress,” I’m of the mindset that this is something to be proud of and celebrate.

Down they went….I love this image.

Crazy tourists….get out of my way, you’re blocking the view!

Marching towards us….perhaps I should move out of the way?

Marching by us. And no, I was not that close to them; I used zoom on my camera. :)

Bye-bye!

Here we entered the museum. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures. But inside were artifacts and personal belongings of Atatürk and his peers, displays of the major battles fought for Turkish independence, artwork, and a live camera view of the actual burial place of Atatürk.

Now we’re walking down the pathway for real–simply lovely! And I believe the stones are marble.

Twenty-four lions guard the way.

Closer to the end, view of Turkish flag and Ankara.

Made it to end of the marble path! Look to the left and behold the epic parthenon-like structure that holds a sarcophagus of Atatürk’s body. He is actually buried underneath this part but I believe the sarcophagus is representative of his actual burial place.

This is an example of old Anatolian traditions being brought to the present. Like the Persians, Babylonians, Hittites, etc. wall engravings are used to tell stories. This figure symbolizes the Turks’ willingness and ability to fight whoever might challenge or threaten them.

Again, wall engravings that tell a story.

Close-up. The art is quite striking.

Climb the steps of the mausoleum, turn around, and get an amazing view of the courtyard. The size of the place is massive!

Goofing off with other international students. :)

Climbing up the stairs….

Again, more views of Ankara.

And of course, I’m happy to be there. :)

Words of Atatürk.

Oh yeah, and there are guards at several points along the grounds.

Look up after entering and see this loveliness.

Inside and at the other end you see the sarcophagus. Again, Atatürk is not actually in this one but is buried elsewhere.

More ceiling designs.

Go down some steps and look in the opposite direction–more Ankara views!

After we made it down the stairs, the changing of guard started!

They climbed up the stairs….

Here they switched out a guard. It was funny how still and quiet it became; other tourists and visitors stopped talking and started taking pictures–like I did. :P

Like this:

Related

4 comments

Was there last year, so your post brought back memories. The courtyard was really crowded that day, especially with groups of school children. One of them asked me what I thought of Ataturk. I think he was a pretty amazing leader. But now, after seeing your post, I have one big regret—I didn’t look UP. What gorgeous ceilings.